Electricity: conductors and insulators – Conduits – cables or conductors – Combined
Patent
1996-01-11
1998-06-30
Kincaid, Kristine L.
Electricity: conductors and insulators
Conduits, cables or conductors
Combined
174845, 439877, H01R 436
Patent
active
057719837
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a screw clamp for connecting electrical conductors.
European patent 0 023 234 suggests one type of screw terminal for connecting electrical conductors. That screw terminal is used, for example, in conjunction with a one-piece molded receptacle as the contact element for a cable connector. No thread grooves can be made from the thin spring steel sheet necessary for those screw terminals, and the required tightening torque cannot be attained with a simple hole for accommodating the terminal screw. Therefore, between two leg sections of the screw terminal there is a sufficiently thick nut (cross nut) that is held using side shoulders in recesses of the two leg sections. In this way the leg section clearance can be reduced to the diameter of the threaded hole and thus a minimum width of the screw terminal can be achieved, preferably the diameter of the screw head corresponding at most to this width.
In this screw terminal however, a relatively large leg length is necessary in order that the leg part between the recesses and the free upper edge is thick enough to be able to accommodate the clamping forces produced by the required tightening torque of the terminal screw. For this reason, the terminal height (i.e., the dimension in the direction of the screw axis) is too large for many applications, especially for use in miniature connectors.
In addition, in the known screw terminal, under high clamping forces, the leg sections can be pressed apart by more than the material thickness of the sheet metal, therefore the cross nut is withdrawn at least from one recess, and reliable terminal contact is no longer guaranteed. Frequently, the screw terminal in this process is deformed so that it is unusable.
An advantage of this screw clamp is that it is simple and inexpensive. Another advantage is that the screw clamp has stability in the direction of the screw axis, the terminal height is reduced, and spreading of the terminal arm sections is reliably prevented even under high clamping forces.
This screw clamp structure, which is implemented with a minimum additional cost compared to previous structures, makes it possible to arrange the inside surface of the end part of the second arm section to be supported directly on the cross nut so that the range of heights necessary to accommodate the clamping forces is reduced to twice the material thickness of the sheet metal part. Thus, the clamp dimensions are reduced not only in width but also in height to an absolute minimum by which the range of application of the screw terminal is greatly increased. This screw clamp can, for example, be used in miniature connectors with contact carriers in cross section that have various small contact cavities for holding one-piece contacts with the screw terminal connection.
Moreover, by means of the aligned screw openings of the inner and outer end part of the two arm sections, which preferably correspond to the outside diameter of the threaded shaft of the terminal screw or which are at least slightly larger, lateral yielding of the arm sections, at least in the area of the recesses adjacent to the end parts, is suppressed both simply and effectively so that even with very large clamping forces, the mechanical stability of the screw terminal is reliably guaranteed on a permanent basis.
The design also easily and simply prevents the arm sections from springing to the outside before inserting and screwing down the clamp screw. This greatly facilitates assembly. In addition, the extensions bent into the recesses result in the fact that the two end parts of the arm sections lie next to one another transversely to the screw axis in the target position and are held together -- in this way, they can be easily inserted into the recesses of equipment parts, said recesses adapted to the target cross sectional outline, for example, to the contact cavities of a connector-contact carrier; this likewise contributes to easy assembly. One such screw terminal is thus espec
REFERENCES:
patent: 3694564 (1972-09-01), Pater
Kincaid Kristine L.
Machtinger Marc D.
Richard Hirschmann GmbH & Co.
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